We arrived to Kansas City last Friday. We had an easy drive across the country, thanks to the portable DVD player for Colin and the audio of Harry Potter Book 7 for us. (We are lucky that my parents are snobs and require the Stephen Fry, British version instead of the Jim Dale American version. They special order from amazon.co.uk to ensure they have the correct version. I know a lot of people like Jim Dale, but they only like him because they have not heard how brilliant Stephen Fry is in the reading of Harry Potter. For one thing, Jim Dale does Hermione all wrong. Stephen Fry, we love you.) I wish we had taken some photos of our journey. Some highlights included a fun diner in Rawlins, WY where Colin was allowed to draw on the walls, $35 for a night at the Hilton Garden Suites in Denver thanks to Hotwire, and an outdoor playground at a Burger King in the middle of Kansas somewhere. Good times.

So we are staying in the Country Club Plaza area of Kansas City, and it is about the coolest place we have been in the United States. (We have been a lot of places, so we do not say that too lightly.) The buildings are from the 1920's, have great tile roofs and feel very European, as they are Spanish inspired. It is fun too because the area has lots of beautiful shopping, fun restaurants, fountains everywhere, a fun park for jogging, etc, etc. We had no idea we would like this area of Kansas City so much. I wish that other areas of the country with cool old little town centers could develop into areas like this instead of just getting run down. The area nearly does not even feel like the USA, since the buildings are all so great.

We will get some of our own photos up (when we take them) but we are all alive and well, back in the Midwest. Below is a Thomas Kincade "painter of light" of the area. Don't judge- He typically is not our favorite artist, but since I like the area so much, I kind of like this.

And, did I ever mention that we were supposed to be in Hawaii last weekend? Brian was offered an engagement to sing with the Honolulu Symphony, but the Kansas City offer came in the same day (and for a bit more money). So here we are for the Pearl Fishers. Then we go directly to Louisville, KY for Kentucky Opera's Dialogues of the Carmelites. Brian has a couple of Messiahs, one in Indianapolis, one in Florida. Then home for the holidays.